


The Feather Games

by kiwisandwich (panconkiwi)



Series: A Feather Tale [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Animals, Alternate Universe - Birds, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Family, Friendship, Gen, Some Japanese Folklore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 17:55:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6576622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panconkiwi/pseuds/kiwisandwich
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hitoka must be the stupidest bird in the world! Only she could get herself lost in the rain, and the day before the Feather Games to booth. But she can't afford being clumsy anymore, because the survival of her family lies on her and her best friend's shoulders, even if nobody believes that a couple of Songbirds can face-off against the other bigger and stronger birds.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Birdwatchers of Karasuno prepare themselves for the arrival of spring, but there's one question that their founder, Shimizu, hasn't been able to get out of her mind, and the closer it gets to the equinox, the harder it gets to ignore the series of strange incidents that have surrounded this event since the very fundings of the community of Karasuno.</p><p>It's a new year for the Feather Games. The only rule: no flying!</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Feather Games

**Author's Note:**

> **[CANCELLED]**
> 
> **About the Rating:** This story is suitable for all ages.  
>  **About the cast:** "EVERYONE" is an exaggeration, but tagging every character individually would have consumed the half the page. Basically you will see: the entirety of Karasuno, the entirety of Nekoma, some Seijous, and from the following teams: Shiratorizawa (Ushijma, Reon, Shirabu), Fukurodani (Bokuto, Akaashi, Shirofuku), Datekou (Futakuchi, Aone, Nametsu), Johzenji (Terushima, Bobata, Misaki) and Wakunan (Nakashima Takeru  & Makoto, Kawatabi). There'll be some other cameos too, but these are the truly plot relevant characters.  
>  **About the pairings:** This is a KiyoYachi centric fic, and their relationship will have a major impact on the story, but above anything this fic is **Gen** , so don't expect fanservice or anything (as much as my gay heart wants it :'D). InuShiba will be subtle too, but almost as important.  
> There'll be A LOT of friendships tho, and I'm going to make use of them like it's nobody's bussiness.  
>  **Ships that'll probably show up (but don't have actual development or plot relevance):** KuroYaku, Ukatake, KageHina, AkiSae and Asanoya. As for the friendships, some are rather obvious (Hina &Yachi and Kuro&Ken), but most of them will be a surprise, so I rather not spoil them. ;u  
>  **About the setting:** Yep, birds and cats. There'll be some humans too, doing whatever is it that humans do.  
>  **Warnings:** It's a weird story.  
>  **About my language skills:** English is neither me nor my beta's native language, so feel free to scold me if I fuck up some grammar here and there.  
>  **¡¡¡IMPORTANT!!! If you haven't read the first work in this series (The Girl Who Watches Birds) I really suggest you do before going further.**

Yuuki was shivering.

The rain had long since stopped, but he still felt his fur uncomfortably damp. What if it never dried off? What if it stayed like that for the rest of the week? The month? His whole life?

But even if not for that, it was just too cold to be outside. The council meetings had to be carried indoors when it rained, while, before, and after it happened. What were they doing in the backyard, then? Was this another of the elder cats’ ideas to “strengthen the character”?

Or maybe it was his punishment, after what he had done.

No, that would’ve been too lenient on him. He wouldn’t get off that easily.

“Shibayama Yuuki,” he shivered again at the mention of his human name, “you’ve been accused of breaking the bird truce, attacking a member of the Songbirds and leaving them alone in the rain. What do you have to say in your defense?

Despite his severe words, the Nekomata spoke in a calm manner. The other members of the council were looking at Yuuki with varying degrees of accusation and disdain, but the glaring’s leader had always been too rational to show such emotions. It could be the age, Yuuki supposed that after living for so long nothing ever surprised you anymore (well, what could take a two-tailed cat by surprise?), or maybe emotions expired? To him, who was now painfully aware of all his negative emotions at the same time, the idea made him a little envious.

He was also very, very cold, and was barely managing to keep still with every little breeze that passed through. And yet, the Nekomata wasn’t moving at all. Alright, it must’ve been a warmth spell, it wasn't that complicated, but Yuuki still couldn’t cast it because his fur was wet. The best thing he could do now was let this end as soon as possible so he could return to the mansion with the rest.

But, what could he say in his situation? Wouldn’t it be better to keep quiet and accept whatever came his way? He wished he could just do that, but they wouldn’t let him. Cowardice was a privilege that the Bakeneko couldn't afford.

Yuuki sighed. He didn't really have an option after all.

So he straightened up, breathed in, opened his snout and…

“I… ah… _achoo!_ ”

Of course he had to sneeze.

_Don’t worry, it’s not your fault, you can’t choose when to sneeze. Someday you will, when you learn that spell. Just try again, Yuuki._

“I know that… what we did was wrong,” he started off, little by little, to give himself the time to sort out his ideas. “I didn’t want it to end the way it did. The other cats told me the Songbird was cheating and that it was my responsibility as a guardian-

“If you knew it was wrong, you should have spoken up!,” unlike the Nekomata, Naoi didn’t even worry about hiding how mad he was. His tone made Yuuki flinch.

The Nekomata raised his paw slightly, making the other Bakeneko retreat back to his seat beside him, and attracting the attention of all the cats in the backyard.

“Shibayama Yuuki, you are a Bakeneko. All cats owe you their respect and devotion. Naoi is right, if you had spoken up when you should have, we wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.”

“But they wouldn't listen to me!”

“Not only do you posses the status to command any and all feral cats in our territory, but also the power. If anyone ever defies your direct orders, you must put them on their place.”

Yuuki looked away from the Nekomata. He didn’t like to use brute force, but even if he did it wouldn’t be enough; his powers weren’t that strong.

“Your lack of judgement is what let the Songbird get lost in the rain, at mercy of the weather and the humans’ will.

A shiver went down his spine, but this time it had nothing to do with the weather.

“But luck is something we do not lack, and it seems that today, yours was big enough to save us, and specially the offended bird, from this pinch,“ the eldest cat turned his head towards the mansion. “We got a call from the rehabilitation center a while ago. The Songbird has been localize and it’s allegedly safe for the night, it seems, with the human that found you."

Yuuki stared at the Nekomata in disbelief. He couldn’t believe his luck! Relief washed over his body and he was finally able to feel a little warmth again.

“The Songbird is safe…”

“See? This is was we Bakeneko are capable of. Someday you, Shibayama Yuuki, will be strong and wise enough to master this power and teach it to the upcoming generations of our glaring. We believed in your ability, that’s why we let you take part in the games this year”

Yuuki wasn’t a genius, but he was caught up with his studies and was always trying to learn a bit more everyday. Even if his magic wasn’t of the strong type, he knew how to control it, and sometimes he stocked up enough luck to save himself from any problem. The Songbird was safe now, and that did take a huge weight out of his shoulders, but the amount of luck it must have took for a human to show up right before the other cats were about to gang up on her… that was something he had never done before.

“Which is a shame,” said the Nekomata, interrupting his current train of thought, “because it seems that our judgement was rushed, after all.”

And just like that, Yuuki's mood dropped again.

“The birds’ trust is a honor and a privilege, and as such, we can only give it to those who are mature enough to understand this.”

“Wait… you don’t mean…”

“Shibayama Yuuki, you have showed us that you still haven’t grasped the true meaning of this sacred tradition, and as punishment for your actions, the council has decided to take away your permission from partaking in any activity related to the Feather Games.”

“No!,” he exclaimed before being able to contain himself.

“This ruling is final. You have already admitted to the charges and as such accepted to follow our decision.

It couldn't be happening. And after all those years training and learning! Everything he had done just to be there!

It was gone, all thanks to one stupid mistake.

“But…,” he had to think of something to say, anything!, but the moment for that had already passed, ” but the games are tomorrow! And I’m a guardian… who will take my place? The Songbirds need someone to guide them! It was me or Lev-

The cats of the council hissed and growled at the sole idea.

“Haiba Lev is out of question for the same reason that you are now: he is immature,“ the Nekomata's tone was indeed impersonal and monotone, but he too had seem visually uncomfortable at the mention of the other Bakeneko. Poor Lev, it wasn’t his fault. “Besides, we want to compensate the Songbirds for what you and the others have done tonight, and assigning them another inexperienced catling will just worsen up the offense.

“But there’s no one other Bakeneko left in the glaring…”

“Considering our situation, we’ll have to depend on someone with no magic. It isn't unherad of. The work of a guardian consists of watching over his assigned family of birds and being a bridge between them and the staff. The main reason we usually pick Bakeneko for this is that you carry a bigger responsibility than any other cat, but anyone can fulfill this role. There have been years where the position was given to common cats who have shown aptitude and compromise, which you haven’t.”

Sadly, that was true. It was mainly the reason he had been elected for the position on the first place. The Songbirds were the most harmless of all families, so whoever was in charge of them barely needed to put his magic in use.

“This is a terribly complicated situation we are in. A bird has been attacked during the truce, and even if she is safe now, there’s the risk of losing the trust that we earned not only from the Songbirds, but the other bird families as well. After a traumatic event, worse than the physical harm are the scars that stay in our minds. The bird must be terrified of us now.

Yuuki felt his heart clench.

“Which is why we should solve this situation in the only sensitive way there is. The guardian of the Songbirds shall not be a cat this year.”

And this time, the words of the Nekomata took everyone by surprise.

“Not a cat?!”

“Who else could fulfill this role?!”

“You can’t possibly mean…”

“Are you talking about _Sou_?,” asked Yuuki, the only one who dared say it outloud.

Chaos ensues. The Nekomata had just made what could very well be the most controversial decision in the history of the Feather Games!

And he still looked as calm as ever. He raised a paw, and it was all it took to make silence again.

“I know it is unorthodox,” he began again, “but the times have changed. It doesn’t matter that humans have let us keep a small portion of what was once ours, contamination takes away what little is left for us wild animals. The Feather Games have never been more important for survival than now.

“Yasufumi-sama,” Naoi’s voice was almost a whisper, as a sign of respect more than a way for no one else to hear, “this is _not what we agreed_.”

“We can’t allow the truce to break, Naoi, and if to protect it we must ask for the help of another species, then so be it.

The thing is, the Nekomata had brought upon some uncomfortable topics that had been worrying cats and birds alike in the past years. It was unorthodox, but seen from that point of view, it was pretty obvious that the situation was desperate.

And desperate times called for desperate measures.

“So, now that we’ve made your situation clear, I’ll ask you to please call our new staff member to meet with us. After that, make sure to rest, Shibayama Yuuki. It’ll take a long time for your magic to heal.

Yuuki followed his instructions right away, leaving the elder cats arguing on their own.

What had just happened?

When he was at the back entrance, since he had no magic with him, he had to knock on the glass a couple times for someone else to come and open the door for him. With that went any chance of coming back unnoticed.

He was met by Fukunaga. The older Bakeneko was staring at him, but didn’t say a word.. It wasn’t very common to see him answering the door, but maybe the rest were busy, which was good. Yuuki greeted him like usual and he answered with a small bow of his own before leaving again.

Inside the mansion, the warm air embraced Yuuki. Walking around the house made him feel better, more comfortable. _At least,_ he thought, _it’s over now._

And then he saw Yaku at the top of the stairs.

“Lev, you stupid cat! What were you even thinking?! Practicing fire magic inside the house! What if someone had caught on fire?!”

“Hello?! What about _me_?!”

“Suck it up, Yamamoto, hair grows back.”

“IT STILL HURTS, KUROO, DAMMIT!”

“You don’t get it, Yaku-san, I had a _hunch_!, and Kai-san told I should always follow my hunches because it means I’m getting better, but I couldn’t go outside because of the rain. Besides, this time I got to control it for thirty whole seconds!”

Well, that explained why Fukunaga had to open the door. With the ruckus they were making, even Yuuki could pass unnoticed-

“Oh, hey, Shibayama!,” Lev waved one of his paws like a human at him. “How did the meeting go?”

Everyone stared at him… but Yaku. “Alright, Lev,” he said, “you want to follow that hunch? Let’s go to the balcony and see if we can get you to control that fire for forty seconds.”

“Uh… cool!,” said Lev, who didn't get to grasp the mood before leaving through the stairs.

“Hey!,” Yamamoto growled, “I’m still not done with-!”

“ _Not now, Tora_ ,” hissed Yaku.

Yamamoto flinched. Kuroo laughed at him and patted the bald patch on his back. “You better take care of this before someone else sees it, baldy.”

The tabby cat growled, but finally left as quickly as he could. Now the hall population had been reduced to two, Yuuki finally gathered up the courage to speak up. “He’s really mad at me, isn't he?”

“Nah, you know Yakkun,” said Kuroo, leaping from his spot on the stairs to him. “He’s always looking for reasons to scold other people, is kinda his thing.”

“But he’s not scolding me, he wouldn’t even look at me!," Yuuki was too tired to actually cry, but he still felt awful. "I’d rather he’d yell or something other than just ignore me…”

Kuroo noticed the mood would get worse if he didn’t do anything, so he dropped his carefree _senpai_ persona and instead assumed a more appropriate stance. “Listen, he doesn’t hate you, okay? Before you got back he couldn’t even sit still knowing you were out there in the rain. You know how he’s always saying you are his favourite apprentice.”

“I am his only apprentice, though.”

“True,” Kuroo admitted, “but that doesn’t mean he’s any less proud of you.”

Yuuki laughed too, more out of embarrassment than anything, but it was enough for Kuroo who just wanted to see him better. “That’s why he was so disappointed when he heard what happened, just like the rest of us.”

Yuuki reminisced of the events from a while ago, when he came back. Sou was still out looking for him, so the one who received him was Yaku, who quickly got rid of most of the water in his fur (there was so much you could do with cat magic when water was involved) and asked him how he felt, if he was hurt, how could he be so reckless to leave in the middle of the rain.

Then, Naoi announced that one of the Songbirds was lost, and it didn’t took him much to get one of the feral cats to confess what had happened.

_< <What have you done, Shibayama?>>_

An hour from then had already passed, but those words still echoed in Yuuki’s mind.

“At least they went easy on you, you know?,” Kuroo relaxed his posture and headed towards the entrance. Yuuki followed him. “The other cats have been banned from the house.”

That took Yuuki with his guard down, but deep down it didn’t surprise him, nor made him feel better. They weren’t his friends, but he grew up with that group, and was the only Bakeneko from that generation. He felt responsible and guilty for staying just because he could do magic.

“So, they sent you to get Sou? He was a bit upset that he didn’t get to meet you earlier.”

Yuuki did his best to ignore the last comment. He’d been trying not to think about his friend.

Desperate times called for desperate measures…

“Wait… you knew, _senpai_?”

Kuroo looked upstairs, then both sides of the hall before answering.

“Yeah, the Nekomata talked to me about this just before going outside,” he shrugged. ”He only told me what was going on and aske what would I do in his place, and then I reached the same conclusion on my own. You pretty much confirmed my suspicions by going to the front yard through the house instead of walking from outside, which is faster.”

Had he been on his human form, Yuuki would have blushed at how easily his _senpai_  read him.

“Well, it’ll be best if I’m with the rest when Naoi comes to tell us the news, that way he won’t have to tell us to keep the secret of what happened one by one.”

“Secret? Why? Isn’t it better if everyone knows so no one does it ever again?”

“Oh, trust me, nobody's that stupid. Your lot has always been problematic, you should be happy they won’t be here to bully you again.”

“They didn’t…,” Yuuki sighed and turned his head to look at his back where, instead of a long and elegant tail, was just a fluffy stump.

“You don’t have to defend them, they used to say pretty mean stuff about you. No one told them anything because, you know, the Nekomata…”

“Wants me to stand up for myself, I know,” Yuuki sighed again. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t ever see them again, feral cats didn’t actually live in the mansion, they only went there to rest a while or hide from the rain. He would likely meet one of them the next time he left the house, but for now he was relieved that he wouldn’t have to deal with them.

“Anyway, if you really want to know, Yasufumi-sama simply wanted to wait for the birds to speak first about the issue before giving his own statement.”

That was it? But they obviously would, eventually, when the Songbird returned to her group and told them. Wouldn’t it be better to confess already?

“You need me to open the door, right?,” Kuroo raised his paw and the door lock made a clicking sound. Yuuki immediately thanked him. “You are welcome. So, remember, not a word about this. This secret does not include our new staff member, we can’t trust him with this delicate stuff, “Kuroo opened the door and stayed behind to protect himself from the wind. “Just keep the details to yourself, he’ll be happy to help anyway.”

Yuuki left the house and felt the door closing just after his last paw passed through the frame. He was still trying to understand all the new information that had been dumped on him, but he couldn’t just stay there until he got it, the cold felt even worse now that he had regained some body warmth, so this time he took the shortest path to the little house in the front yard.

He didn’t see any signs of his friend until he was right at the entrance. Inside, all that could be made of the sight was the up and down of his ribs and slow breathing. Sou was sleeping, of course. Must’ve been tired after hours looking for Yuuki.

He felt guilty again. It seemed like he couldn’t stop bringing trouble to everyone around him. Maybe he should let him res-

“Ah.. _achoo!_ ”

The beast woke up.

“Oh no.”

In the blink of an eye, Yuuki was on his back and with a dog ten times his size over him. “Yuuki, you are back!!”

“Heh, uh, hi, Sou. Could you get off me? I need to tell you-,” the dog licked his face. “EW, SOU, GROSS! DON’T DO THAT!!”

“Sorry! I’m just so excited to see you! You were gone for DAYS!!”

“It wasn’t days, you bonehead! You can’t even count!”

“Ha ha ha, you are right,” Sou went back inside the little house and laid down, leaving just enough space for Yuuki, who didn’t think twice about taking the spot. “Do you feel better now? Yaku-dono dried off some of the water in my fur when I came back, but when I asked about you he just said the elder cats were with you.”

Yuuki shifted his position so he wouldn’t have to be facing Sou when he spoke. He didn’t like lying to his friend.

“Uh, actually, about that,” he coughed a couple times, “it seems the rain left me in an awful state, so…,” he breathed in, deeply. The decision had already been taken, what could he do about it? “They told me I wouldn’t be helping this year in the games.”

There was a sound of something hitting the little house’s floor. Sou’s tail, Yuuki guessed.

“What?!,” he barked. ”But that’s not fair! You’ve been super excited about all this for months! Just because of a cold?”

“It’s not just a cold!,” Yuuki said. “I mean, I do have one, but this is about my powers. You know how water makes our magic unstable,” that was partially true. Water inhibited their magic, and the fur of a Bakeneko was especially hard to dry once it had made contact with it. For a young cat like him it would take about a week to get his magic back, and even longer until he could control it again. “It could be dangerous. For the birds, you know.”

“But they can’t just take it all away just because of that! Those stupid-! AH! I DIDN’T MEAN TO CALL THEM STUPID! I’M SORRY!” Sou hid his face under his front paws and whined in shame.

Yuuki left his spot and walked a bit closer to him. “It’s alright, I don’t think they heard you. And… I’m sad, too, but this is what I get for leaving in the middle of a storm,” he rested one of his paws on his friend’s nose, who in turn removed one of his paws so now one guilty-looking eye was staring at him. “Besides, there’s good news for you. They need a replace.”

Sou snorted. “Weren’t you the only one available? I mean, Lev is…”

“Out of question. Uh, you know, because of his condition."

“See? They need you! The games will have to be canceled.”

“Sou, it’s alright, they won’t…,” but Yuuki couldn’t finish as he was being pushed to one side by a paw almost as big as his own head. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to talk with the council and tell them to give back your job!”

“What? Don’t do that! Get back here this instant!”

“Not until they hear me!” he barked from outside the house. “They can’t do this to you just because you are sick, and if they think they can find anyone worth replacing you…”

“Sou, you are my replacement!”

“... they are totally wrong, I’ll show them! And if they don’t listen to me I’m going to dig _so many holes_ the yard is going to…”

Sou turned around and looked at Yuuki with wide eyes.

“ _Me?_ ”

“Yes, Sou. _You_ are going to be the guardian of the Songbirds.”

It didn’t really matter how he felt at that moment, Yuuki had to admit that Sou’s reaction was absolutely comical. Where to begin? He didn’t know where to look, how to move, his gaze went from the little house to the mansion and back while his paws couldn’t stay still. Yuuki hadn’t seen him that confused since that one time one of the older Bakeneko glued a steak to his back.

“Me! A guardian! At the Feather Games! _Me!_ ,” Sou barked as he spinned around. “Yuuki! The council wants _my_ help!”

When he got like this, you just couldn’t help but feel happy for him.

Yuuki left the little house and went with Sou, but when the dog noticed him, he dropped to the floor again. “But it’s still not fair that I get to go and you don’t,” he told him, just as sad as he had been before. “You are a true Bakeneko, and I’m not even-”

“Don’t say it!,” Yuuki cut him; Sou whined again. “The council decided it this way, so it must be the right! Besides, if anyone is going to replace me, I want it to be you.”

Sou still looked sad, so Yuuki nuzzled to calm him down. That always worked.

“Okay…,” he finally said, “I’ll do my best to guide the Songbirds so you can take them to victory when you get better!”

Yuuki felt a twinge in his chest. “That’s the spirit! But enough of that, the Nekomata asked me to tell you he and the council want to talk to you about this in more detail.”

“He wants me to meet with them?,” Sou raised his ears. “Inside the house?“

“The backyard.”

“Oh. Well, I’ll better hurry then!,” he stood up again, now back to his full spirits. “I’ll still tell them about letting you back in as soon as you get better!”

And Sou left before Yuuki could say anything against that.

Now that he was alone again, Yuuki remembered how cold he was. He didn't’ want to go back to the mansion and face whoever might open the door for him, so he just turned around and went back inside the little house, where, at least, there were a couple pillows and a blanket.

At some point he fell asleep. Sou woke him up when he came back and then laid down next to him. Both of them were tired, but Yuuki still asked him about the meeting.

“So… They weren’t mean to you, right?”

“Eh? Not at all. Some of them seemed to be happy to have me in the team…”

To think they were still arguing about that when Yuuki had left them. Did they actually change their minds in that short period of time?

He had more questions yet, but Sou had already fallen asleep, so he gave up on that for the night. Besides, he himself felt rather comfortable. Most cats were nocturnal, but Yuuki had always been an odd one, finding he had more things in common with Sou than any of them.

Even if the dog house wasn’t as fancy or warm as his private room in the mansion, his friend was the only one who could make him feel calm and safe. Being with him like this, all his problems seemed far away.

Well, most of them.

* * *

 

He dreamed about the rain and accusations.

_She’s a cheater!_

_How dare she be here!_

_And you’ll let her get away with this?_

_Do something!_

Yuuki was standing in front of a creature even smaller than him. The Songbird was scared, soaking, and had no idea what was it that she had done wrong.

Honestly? He didn’t know either.

**Author's Note:**

> For reference, Shibayama is a Japanese Bobtail.  
> HMU if you want to talk about lesbians, birds, puns, or bird puns, at  
>  **nintendosatori@tumblr**


End file.
